Mama's Boy
by The Springtime of Nations
Summary: Why is everyone else so mean? He just wants to protect her... But he can't even do that. (Or, The Formative Experiences Of A Faithful Son.)
1. Tears

Mama was crying.

The sound of her sobbing echoed throughout the Ice Palace, following Marshmallow wherever he went.

"I'm killing everybody."

He had protected Mama, hadn't he? Thrown out the mean girl and bad man and disloyal brother, right?

"I'm so sorry Anna. I couldn't – can't control it."

So why was Mama crying?

"I can't control it. I can't. I can't. Anna – I can't."

Was…was he the reason she was sad?

"Control – conceal, don't feel, don't feel…"

Unsure of what to do, Marshmallow climbed the stairs and entered her room. Mama was hunched over on the floor, her face streaked with tears. Around her were spikes of ice. As she wept, slow drops ran down her face, fell, and solidified into stalagmites of tears.

Marshmallow rushed forward.

"Mama!"

Elsa lifted her face. It was a mess.

"Yes?"

His worried frown took up his entire face.

"Don't cry Mama, don't cry. Just…just tell me how to protect you."

Her smile did not reach her bloodshot eyes.

"All I need is some water."

Even Marshmallow could tell that was a lie.

Nevertheless, he nodded, and Elsa conjured ice water. Tried conjuring at least. It took several failed attempts, and the final product was like slush, more ice than water. Marshmallow noticed how each failed attempt sent tremors through her entire body.

Nonetheless, he was now holding a cup of slush. Without a word he handed it to his mother, who drank gratefully. Upon finishing, she rose to her feet.

"See? I'm already feeling better."

Marshmallow nodded. He was always happy to help Mama, but upon reflection his contribution seemed small, nothing much to be proud of. And Mama was still sad, he could tell. She was smiling, but her arms told a different story.

"Mama, can I...?"

At this point, he pulled his mother into a hug. She instinctively resisted at first, but relented. Enveloped in arms of snow, her first hug in over a decade caused her to start tearing up again.

Unsure of what to do, Marshmallow tightened his embrace. When he released her, her eyes were redder than before, but her smile was brighter too.

"Marshmallow, I-"

Then Elsa noticed the spikes on the ground.

"…please, leave."

She was no longer smiling.

"Mama…?"

Her eyes were now filled with a familiar distress.

"Leave."

He wanted to blink, to turn away, but found he couldn't.

"Mama... am I... am I making you sad?"

She turned and seemed to crumble.

"Marshmallow, what I mean is-"

But the spikes wouldn't let her.

"This is something that I have to handle by myself."

When she turned back, it was like he had never hugged her. The moment was over.

"You might distract me."

When his mother stood her ground like that, Marshmallow knew the discussion was over. With reluctance, he turned to leave, trudging through the doors.

"Marshmallow?"

He looked back. She was reaching out to him from across the room.

"You know that I love you, right?"

He nodded. He knew it as certainly as his own love for Mama.

"Well then… please, keep that in mind."

Once more he nodded, although it was a silly request. He could feel her love straight from his heart, no mental storage required.

Her hands drifted back to her side, and Elsa smiled one last time.

"Good boy."

Then the doors swung shut. Elsa turned away, and tried to concentrate.

"Get it together now. Conceal, don't feel. Conceal, don't feel. Don't feel. Don't feel. Don't feel…"

Around her the spikes sprouted, starting with the ones by her feet.

Marshmallow trudged out of the Ice Palace and gingerly made his way down the stairs, concern etched on his face. He felt awful for abandoning his mother in her hour of need, despite Mama ordering him to. There she was, miserable and alone, and here he was, doing nothing to help her. It didn't matter that nothing was all he could do; he was still a bad man and a bad son for deserting her. In fact, his heart told him he was the worst son in the whole world.

He sat down and tried to think with his head. He had failed to protect her from sadness, abandoned her as a son, and now she was shutting him out.

Confused, unable to understand the source of Mama's sadness or what he could do about it, Marshmallow lapsed into silence.


	2. Swords

He could hear them before he could see them. The _crunch_ of hoofs against the snow – **Mama's** snow – rang against the sky – **Mama's** sky. Intruders were approaching the Ice Palace – Mama's **sanctuary** – and he was going to protect her, whether they liked it or not.

Of course, Marshmallow was a smart boy – just like his Mama – so he kept still as they approached. Hopefully an ambush would send them running and screaming to their Mamas, and no one would actually have to get hurt. After all, Mama didn't like hurting people, and Marshmallow didn't want to make her any sadder than he already had.

 _Crunchcrunchcrunch_. Someone started shouting.

"We are here to find Princess Anna! Be on guard! No harm is to come to the Queen. Do you understand?"

 _Wait for it…_

Silence, then the footsteps resumed. _Crunchcrunchcrunch._

 _Wait for it…_

They neared. _Crunchcrunchcrunch_.

 _Wait for it…_

Crunchcrunchcr-

 _Now!_

Marshmallow leapt up and roared right into the face of the leading man. The ground shook as he and his sideburns staggered back. Ha, that would teach them.

Then Sideburns Man drew his sword. His compatriots did likewise.

Marshmallow growled. So they were planning to hurt Mama all along, did they?

He swung at Sideburns Man.

Not if he had anything to say about it.

The blow missed. And the others had readied their weapons.

Marshmallow raised his arm, absorbing the shots. However, he knew that could have hurt Mama. They could have hurt Mama. **WHY COULDN'T THEY LEAVE MAMA ALONE!**

He roared with all his heart. Spikes extended, he swung once more.

 **MAMA!**

The blow knocked two crossbow-wielding men into a snowdrift. When they got up, they saw an alabaster figure ahead.

"The Queen."

Marshmallow was too enraged to notice them slipping past him. After all, he was fully preoccupied teaching the three gentlemen in front of him about the power of love and the nature of filial piety. In other words, he punched them.

The two green-coated guards were flung back. Sideburns Man rolled away in time, but dropped his sword.

 **MAMA WANTS TO BE ALONE!**

Marshmallow turned his attention to his only remaining adversary.

 **SHE DOESN'T WANT ME!**

Sideburns Man had scarcely regained his senses before he was forced to dodge once more, rolling away from a bone-crushing stomp.

 **SHE DOESN'T WANT MY BROTHER!**

This time the Sideburns Man was ready, and leapt aside from a ribcage-shattering kick. Grabbing his sword, he turned to face his opponent.

 **AND SHE CERTAINLY DOESN'T WANT YOU!**

Marshmallow struck. With a single blow he was finally vanquished.

With a shock, Marshmallow realized that he was the one defeated. One foot missing, he tottered backwards, roaring at his sideburns encrusted foe. As he fell, he swung one final time.

The last thing he saw was Sideburns Man, alive and being helped up by the green men. The armed green men. **NOOOOOO-**

 _ **Splat.**_

Silence.


	3. Silence

It was the silence that worried him most. Alive Mamas can scream for help; not-alive Mamas don't.

Nevertheless, here he was. He had spent days reassembling his magic snow, fashioning a replacement foot and climbing up the chasm walls, only to fall and have to repeat the process, over and over again…

But! No time like the present. And there was no Mama like his Mama!

Emboldened, he cracked his neck, squared his shoulders, and hoisted himself over the edge of the ravine.

Silence. No Mama.

…Okay, maybe she was just sleeping? In which case, Marshmallow would not enter the Ice Palace, but instead sit out here- no.

He had to know for sure.

Gingerly he made his way up the ice stairs, shaking his head at the gaping hole in its side. He had made that, but only Mama could fix it. On the bright side, it was a testament to her magical and architectural prowess, considering that it was holding up his weight with just one rail.

Yep, his Mama was wonderful. Too wonderful for this envious Earth, really, no wonder others had grown jealous of the best Mama in the world and ended her-

No. He wasn't certain.

He reached the top to find the doors hanging open. Once again he shook his head. Their uninvited guests had been too rude to close the doors behind them. Now the open doors made the place seem empty and… lifeless.

Marshmallow made a point of closing the doors behind him.

Inside, it was pristine. Untouched. And unoccupied. It was like Mama had created it, then departed. Departed forever.

No, he was inside. No turning back. For Mama.

He began to climb the stairs to the balcony room… then stopped. He needed to check the other rooms. Mama could be anywhere, anywhere but there. Must be, in fact.

The search turned up nothing. All the other rooms were beautiful but empty. He told himself that was a good sign. There was still the possibility that Mama was alive, right?

Right.

He was by the entrance to the balcony room. The doors had been left open. All he had to do was step forward, turn and open his eyes. Right.

Forward.

Turn.

Open.

Chaos.

Chaos was what he saw. Shards of ice were everywhere. Spikes of ice were buried in the wall. A wall of ice was on the balcony. And there was blood in the corner.

Marshmallow limped over and crouched down. He could instantly tell it was Mama's blood by the blood splatter pattern. It was very telling, the way it had frozen solid. Her blood froze near instantly, but anyone else's would have frozen slowly, leaving drip marks on the wall and a puddle on the floor.

Still, it was only a small amount of blood. Maybe Mama had slipped and fallen- no, something told him that she did her best to never, ever slip on ice, for some reason. Still, unless she had thrown herself right into the wall, he couldn't see what else could explain it…

Marshmallow shrugged his shoulders and gave up that line of inquiry. It wouldn't help him find Mama.

He turned back and started pacing the room, trying to think more productively with his head. So he had found nothing, and Mama was gone. But was she gone _forever_? Maybe... maybe the visiting men were just bringing presents! Presents to celebrate Marshmallow's creation, Mama's new bundle of joy!

His memory of steel said otherwise.

But…but-

A glint of gold caught his eye. He had almost stepped on something.

Marshmallow picked it up, and looked at it. It was Mama's tiara.

He looked around.

He looked back, and smiled.

He put it on.

Spikes he hadn't noticed retracted from his body, as a wave of relief washed through him. Somehow… Somehow...

Somehow he knew Mama was alive.

For the first time in his life, Marshmallow cried.


	4. Tiara

Its gentle weight was reassuring on his head. The winds might howl through the desolate peaks, but Marshmallow wasn't afraid.

He lifted the tiara off his head, and inspected it once more.

 _Mama._

He hoped he hadn't scratched it against the ceiling. Being royal was hard – how did Mama pull it off with such grace and aplomb? – when your charge was so fragile. Get carried away, and the gold might bend, or the jewel shatter, or the crocus deform. Yes indeed, wearing a tiara was hard work, requiring plenty of self-control, but Marshmallow was proud to have the job.

Satisfied with the quality of his work, he returned the tiara –carefully! – to his head. Mama was going to be so proud when she saw him taking on the family business.

 _Mama trusts me_.

The wind drew to a stop. Silence reigned, reigned where Elsa should.

 _And I trust Mama._

Whenever Marshmallow felt anxious, he would take the tiara off his head and gaze at it, and feel reassured. That was precisely what he did.

The silence continued.

Marshmallow began tracing the design with his fingertips, snow trailing over gold.

The wind gradually picked up, howling as before, whistling now as it passed through the damaged ice bridge.

Slowly, gently, the tiara was returned to its rightful position.

The moonlight glowed as beautifully as ever as it filtered through the walls of the Ice Palace.

With nothing else to do, Marshmallow shook his head. The tiara might seem abandoned… but it was a part of Elsa. It was not forgotten. Neither of them were.

Marshmallow got up, and strolled onto the balcony.

 _And until the time was right, the stars aligned…_

Marshmallow smiled. Mama must have loved the view!

… _he would have something to remember her by._

* * *

 _(Author's note: the source of the cover image is an artist that goes by the name of_ _よこ, on , at . ?id=3701066_ _)_


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